When Chris and Andrea Amos bought a large oak-covered lot on Moss Street in 2019, their vision was simple: create something special for Lafayette’s northside community. That vision developed into a food truck park where customers can enjoy shaded picnic tables and diverse food options – a typical week might include ramen, Creole fare, wings, snowballs and more.
Today, the Amos’s are making big plans again. They already have a slab poured for a future market pavilion, and Chris Amos (a third-generation owner of Amos Landscaping & Lawn Service) is talking about adding a community garden for vendors to have access to fresh kitchen plants.
The Parc De Oaks property is lush and inviting, with plenty of open space and shade from the site’s mature oak trees. With the success of the food truck park under their belts, the couple are excited to explore even more ways the property can be used to benefit the community.
“Hopefully sometime this year we plan to have the farmers market open with a pavilion,” says Chris Amos. “It’s going to have two bathrooms for the public and areas for different people to sell their fresh produce, because currently right now we are in a food desert.”
A food desert is defined by the USDA as a “tract with at least 500 people, or 33 percent of the population, living more than one mile from the nearest supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store.” This definition fits much of Lafayette’s northside, where the last full-service grocery store, a Walmart Supercenter, closed in 2019.
Market pavilion plans include two walk-up areas and a beverage station for fresh juices and other offerings. The community garden is currently in its conceptual stage, but Amos’s plans go beyond cultivating a place for vendors to be able to pick fresh herbs and other produce for their menus. He also wants to create a pollinator garden to attract butterflies and bees.
Chris and Andrea Amos are proud that their original concept — creating a community-focused place for Northside residents — has proven so successful. They say that neighbors regularly walk from their homes to Parc De Oak’s community programming, like a pumpkin patch, Santa Clause and the Easter bunny. On April 7 they hosted a petting zoo event, and they’re planning a Back to School Bash for the end of summer.
It’s hard to believe that Parc De Oaks will be celebrating its one-year anniversary this July. The food trucks and community space already feel like a Northside institution — but that was the Amos’s plan all along. They are committed to investing in their neighborhood for the long haul, even beyond great food and fresh produce.
“I’m a generational guy, being a third-generation landscaping guy,” Chris Amos says. “I like to think of this as a generational thing bringing a lot of families around. I see us doing stuff and building onto it for the foreseeable future.”
Watch this space weekly for news on the best food experiences Acadiana has to offer. Do you have a great local spot or a foodie tip to share? Email [email protected].